The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for mounting chip type electronic parts, one by one, onto a printed circuit board. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for mounting chip type electronic parts having no lead wires upon a printed circuit board, one by one. The present invention is also directed to a pallet for conveying the chip type electronic parts, especially such parts without lead wires, to be mounted on a printed circuit board.
A conventional mounting apparatus and method for chip type electronic parts is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 409,184, filed Aug. 18, 1982, in which a pallet retaining a chip type electronic part runs along a horizontal plane. The chip type electronic part is supplied from a supply unit disposed on only side of a pallet runway. Thus, an unavoidable disadvantage with such a type of apparatus as disclosed in this patent application, is the necessitation of a large space for installation. Furthermore, no centering of the chip type electronic part retained on the pallet is carried out with the apparatus and method of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 409,184, nor is there any detection of the presence of the chip type electronic part on the pallet itself. Therefore, a mechanism for shifting the chip type electronic part onto the pallet from a supply unit in the apparatus of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 409,184 is complicated, so that reliability of ultimate mounting of the chip type electronic part onto the printed circuit board will eventually deteriorate.